Education and Cultural Activity, Education

Kim Il, literacy rate, North Korea, compulsory, pupils

Education is free and compulsory in North Korea for 10 years. In the late 1980s, some 1.5 million pupils were enrolled annually in elementary schools, and another 2.8 million students attended vocational and secondary schools. The principal institution of higher education is Kim Il Sung University (founded in 1946) in P’yongyang. Total enrollment in some 280 institutions of higher education exceeds 300,000. The literacy rate is estimated at about 95 percent.